Dispensing



J. F. LEWIS.

DISPENSING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED 050.7,1920.

Patented Oct. 31, 1922.

INVENTOR L/OHN f. LfW/S.

A TTORNE Y Patented Clot. 31, 19.22.

STATES JOHN F. LEWIS, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

DISPENSING. DEVICE.

Application filed December 7, 1920. Serial No. 428,858.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that L; JO N F. Lewis, a citizen of the United States, residing at San Francisco, in'the county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Dispensing Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a dispensing device and. particularly pertains to a device from which cards or similar articles may be dispensed.

It is the principal. object of the'present invention to provide a device of simple construction and operation from which cards or like articles may be successively dispensed rrom a stack of the articles within a container by successive manual movement.

The present invention contemplates theuse of a container within which a stack of articles' may be disposed said. container be ing equipped with a manually operated ejectorby which the lowermost article in the stack may be projected through a dispensing opening in the side of the container.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in. the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a view in vertical section and elevation showing the device with which the present invention is concerned.

Fig. 2 is a view in section showing the device as seen'on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view in vertical section as seen on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a view in perspectiveshowin the assembled. device.

Broadly considered, the present invention comprises an outer housing 10 formed with a lower compartment 11, and a container 12. The lower compartment is adapted to ac commodate the operating mechanism required by the device, while the upper compartment is designed to accommodate a stack of articles to be dispensed, as for enample, the stack of artlcles indlcated at 13 in Fig.

1. The. housing is formedwith a vertical :front wall 1-1, through which a dispensing opening 15 is made, this wall being secured to side walls 16 and 17, held in spaced relation to each other by a crosswall 18 and a floor 19. It will be noted that the compartment 12 is of smaller dimensions than the length of the compartment 11, thus making the narrow cross wall 18 necessary. The top of the compartment 12 is "formed with a permanent cover 21, while the back of this compartment is provided with a hinged wall member 22. The back of the compartment 11 is closed by a hinged door 23, bot-h members 22 and are formed with lock fingers 2 1 by which the doors are frictionally held in position. These doors separately provide access to compartments 11 and 12, rcspectively.

Extending horizontally within the housmg 10, and at a desirable point below the compartment 12 is a false floor 25, carr ing the dispensing mechanism. This floor is supported on brackets 26, as shown in Fig. 3, and is furthermore liOZIIlQClWlllll a central longitudinal slot 27. In order to facilitate the assembling of the .machine, the slot 27 is enlarged at its ends as indicated at 28 and 29 of Fig. 2. The top surface of the false floor is in alignment with, the lower edge of the dispensingopening 15, thus insuring that the lowermost article to be dispensed may be passed directly oil of the floor and through the opening. The width of this opening is considerably wider than the thick ness of the article to be dispensed, and it is therefore necessary to provide an adjusting plate 30 to prevent more than one of the articles from passing out through the opening at a time. This adjusting plate is more clearlyshown in F 3, where it will be seen to have screws 32 extending through parallel slots in the plate, and by which it may be vertically adjusted and locked. The screws extend into a false front wall 33, which has been provided to adjustably accommodate articles of. various sizes. members 34: are secured at the back of the dispensing compartment 12 and firmly hold the pack 13 in its stacked position.

Mechanical means are provided for eject ing the lowermost cards from the pack. This comprises a reciprocating ejector 35. The ejector is formedby a cross head 36, carrying a finger 37. The cross head is horizon tally slidable along parallel guideways secured to the under face of. the false floor 25. The finger 37 is secured midway the length of the cross head, and is formed with an upturned portion 39,1extending through a longitudinal slot 27 of the floor. The forward end of member 39 is turned down in order to remain out of engagement with the articles to be dispensed. A transverse shoulder 411 is Formed across the member 39 by a plate e1. This shoulder is adapted to on Angle gage the rear edge of an article to be dispensed and to force the article forwardly as the ejector moves. Attention is directed to the fact that the finger 87 is pivoted to the cross head 36 on a pin Q2.

The pivotal movement of the linger 37 is provided to allow the linger to move into engagement with the lowermost article in the stack andto fall away from the stacl:

after this article has been ejected. This action is brought about by extensions 4t?) formed by contiuations of the plate ll. These extensions overhang the sides of the longitudinal slot 27 and pass from supported positions thereon when the ejector 35 reaches its foremost IDOVBHHHlt, and the members 43 fall through the enlarged opein ing 28 in the end of "the slot 27. At this time the linger 37 will fall down upon a connecting link e l, which will be hereinafter described. When the ejector moves to the extreme rear strolrethe linger 37 will be engaged by a spring so, and will be lifted up through the slot 27 with the projections 13 being lifted through the enlargement 29 at the end of the slot. The spring is 'snfliciently long to hold the projections 43 above the enlargement 29 until after the ejector has moved forward to a position where the projections l3 will rest upon the floor at the sides of the slot 27, thus being rigidly held relative to the stack of articles being dis pensed.

Reciprocal movement of the ejector 55 is manually brought about by an operating lever 16. This lever may be oscillated at the side of the box as supported upon a shaft 1'7. The shaft 4L7 has its bearin s in the side walls 16 and 17 of the housing. The operating lever 46 is rigidly secured to the shaft and is adapted to swing an arm 48, which arm is adapted to swing a lever 49 forwardly. This lever is pivotally secured to the connecting link ll, carried by the ejector 35. The arm 49 is freely pivoted upon the shaft 417, and is fitted with a ten sion arm 50 to which a coil spring is fastened. The opposite aid of this coil spring is secured within the housing, and acts to restore the arm automatically after the actuation by the operating lever 4-.(5. Pins 52 limit the movement of the operating lever 46, as shown in Fig. 4;.

It will thus be seen that by the device here disclosed, plurality of like articles may be successively and singly dispensed from a container by successive manual movement, said device being designedto accommodate articles of various dimensions, and to further operate in a simple manner by a mechanism which is not liable to require repair.

l Vhile' I have shown the preferred form of my invention as now known to me, it will be understood that various changes might be made in the combination, construction and arrangement of parts by those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

Having thus described'my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A dispensing device comprising a container within which a stack of identical. articles to be dispensed may be disposed, said container having a horizontal slot in its front wall, a false floor within the container, with its upper face in horizontal alignment with the lower edge of the opening, a longitudinal slot formed in said floor. said slot being enlarged at its ends, over which slot the articles to be dispensed'are disposed, an ejector adapted to move forwardly along said slot and to engage the rear edge of the lowermost article in the stack, and means on the ejector adapted for supporting it from the floor during its forward movement and adapted to pass through the floor at the enlarged ends of the slot whereby the return stroke of the ejector will take place below the floor, means for raising the ejector above the floor at the end of the return stroke, and manually operated means for moving said ejector forwardly and means for automatically returning the same to its original position.

,2. A dispensing device comprising a container within which a stack of articles to be dispensed may. be disposed, said. container having a. horizontal dispensing slot through its front wall, means for adjustably deter- 100 mining the width. of said slot to agree'with the dimensions of the article dispensed, a false floor within said container, disposed with its upper face flush with the lower edge of the slot, said floor being formed 105 with a slot longitudinally thereof, the ends of the slot being enlarged and over which slot a stack of articles to be dispensed is supported by the floor, an. ejecting linger adapted to move forimrdly along said slot 110 and to project therethrough to engage the lowermost article of the sack and rally it therewith, means upon. said finger for supporting it from the floor during its forward movement, and adapted to pass through the 115 floor at the enlarged ends of the slot whereby the return stroke of the ejecting finger will take place below the floor, spring means for lifting the finger supporting members through the opening in the rear end the 120 slot at the COL'lPlOtlOll of the return stroke of the ejecting finger, manual means for moving said ejecting linger forwardly to dispense the articles and spring means for JOHN LEWIS. 

